Back to Life
by DarkFirebird
Summary: (Sequel to ABFL)It has been a year since the girls returned, but they might not be completely free of their past as they may think. Rated PG-13 for language. I do not own any of the LOTR characters.
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1: Life Returns

It had been a year since their return to earth and life had changed dramatically for the girls.

They all were rescued off the island with their parents waiting back in the states. They got national attention as being the only survivors and had to come up with a quick story. Luckily they managed to play it off that they had been stranded on the island the whole time, also that they couldn't call before because they had lost their stuff and finally found it recently. Besides, who was going to argue? They were asked to do TV spots, magazine interviews, and even appear in TV movie.

Tricia cleared up things with her family who were just glad to see her. They shared a close and loving relationship and things couldn't have been better. She kept up with her archery lessons with Rachel and they stunned the class with their sudden improvement.

Rachel's parents began doting on her and supported her in all she did. They took her traveling and tried to take her mind off of the accident, as she still seemed saddened by it.

Holly tried to be happy again with her family, but she felt so empty without Merry and how they had parted. Eventually she started to feel a little better and tried living again. Even when she went back to fencing and started competing she found little joy.

Yet with all that attention and happiness there came complications. Even though they had supposedly been on the island for a few months (which seemed almost impossible to the girls who had been in middle earth for two years) there were rumors. So the girls forced themselves to fin suitable boyfriends to keep the media off their backs. None of them really liked their boyfriends and they were sure that their "boyfriends" only wanted the attention. Their public kisses were awkward and messy at best, and they rarely saw each other unless it was at a big event. Memories of their loves were still too fresh.

"So, it's been a year. To think…we're really 19 because of our aging in middle earth, but here we're only 17 and everyone thinks we've just matured a lot. Funny." They all knew it wasn't, not really. The three had gotten together and visited the beach of Florida that they had landed on after being rescued. Holly stood gazing out at the water idly while Tricia and Rachel sat on a nearby beach towel.

"Kind of silly, huh?" Tricia was trying her best to cheer her friends up, but nothing seemed to be working, and she didn't feel like being glad either. The nearby boardwalk was buzzing with tourists and locals alike, maybe some mindless fun would help lighten the mood. "Why don't we go to the amusement park?" her friends looked at her oddly. "I want some cotton candy, besides, might be fun." She could feel weight being lifted from the gloomy air and they walked towards the park smiling a little.

After getting some food and refreshments they sat down at a table and tried to look inconspicuous. They were fairly well known and not a day passed where they weren't stopped on the street.

"I can't believe it has been a year…seems so much longer. Not like when we were with the fellowship…were we with them?" Rachel held her head in her hands. "I've been noticing that for some times I've been beginning to forget things, about our time there." She could tell that her friends had too.

"If not for Merry's ring…I'd probably think it was all a dream." Holly toyed with the trinket round her neck and sighed. "I miss him so much."

"Maybe it was all a dream…" Tricia sighed, knowing in her heart she was wrong.

"Either way…our old lives have resumed…and we have to move on." Holly looked sadly at her friends "No matter how much we don't want to." They all looked at the ground in silent remorse, wishing that they could see their friends and loves one last time. "Well, I'm going to go through the fun house, just for a lark. Either of you want to come with me or should we meet up later?"

"I'm going to go check out the bumper cars." Rachel said with a half smile.

"A walk on the beach sounds nice." Tricia sighed.

"Alright, we'll meet at the beach right down there in a half hour, okay?" They nodded and separated to try and console themselves separately in their own strange way. Not taking any heed of the shadows that followed them intently.


	2. The Chase

Chapter two: The Chase

Disc: I do not own the LOTR characters.

A/N: This one is pretty short but I wanted to get it up. Don't worry about my new HP one taking time away from this one because its already finished, I just finally edited it enough to get it to the point of uploading, check it out if you can!

A cool breeze helped ease her mind; she couldn't help but smile at the way the water sparkled in the moonlight. It was one of the most romantic things Tricia had ever seen, and yet the man she loved could never be there to see it with her. Legolas had spoken of the sea, and how he had someday wished to see it himself, but Tricia as sure that Middle Earth's Ocean was much cleaner and more heavenly than this one.

"Tricia…" the girl turned quickly to see who had whispered her name. Yet only saw a retreating shadow and a faint but familiar smell loitered in the air. Of course she had to follow, something about it made her follow and forget the beautiful moonlit scene. The shadow led her through the boardwalk and down to another, more secluded beach.

Rachel smiled at the man who pulled the chain back and let her in to the bumper car ring. A green car with a faded six painted across it caught her attention and she climbed in with a grin. As the buzzer rang she automatically went for the older kids who had no clue what they were doing, it was more fun that way.

She was usually very good at not getting hit, but for some reason one car always got her when her back was turned. A flash of a dark green crossed her line of sight a few times but it was going too fast for her to see the driver. Finally the ride stopped and she stumbled out with a sigh. Suddenly a hand grasped hers and spun her round. Rachel saw a shadow pass out of the exit and towards the Ferris wheel.

She never found anything really fun about the fun house. It always had too many loud noises and unstable floors for her tastes, but it was something to get her mind off the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that something was wrong. It felt as if she was being watched, but not by some threatening force, but by someone who wanted to get her attention. Now the mirrors showed her a sad and tired girl, who just wanted to have both her life and her love.

"Follow me…" At first she thought it was just another trick of the fun house, but when the reflection passed a second time she couldn't ignore it. She began following it with as much speed as she could while staying sure that she wouldn't run head first into one of the mirrors. Had her eyes deceived her, or was it really…

Now she was in a round room of mirrors, behind one was a way out, but she wasn't interested in leaving any time soon, all that mattered to her at the moment was the person standing in the middle of the room.

"M-Mery?"


	3. Reunion

Chapter three: Reunion

Disc: I do not own ant of the lotr characters.

A/N: Um, I figured I should get this up as there was a threat on Merry's life, poor boy. Please untie him now.

At first she thought that she had finally cracked. All of the lonely nights and dreams of his face had finally done her in. But then he smiled, and held his arms open for her while chuckling slyly.

"MERRY!" Tears streamed down her face as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. After a good amount of kissing and some more heartfelt sobs Holly settled down. "How?" Was all she managed to get out.

"We'll explain it all later love. How are you?"

"Wonderful!" they both laughed and clung to each other desperately.

"I'm so sorry I didn't say goodbye. I was so foolish, I should have at least told you I love you once more." Merry's smile faded.

"Don't beat yourself about it. We're together now, that's all that matters." Holly wiped his tears away. "I love you." She hugged him close, desperate to feel his warmth once again. "Who else is here?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Another figure stepped out into the room and smiled broadly as Holly gasped.

"Boromir!" It was his turned to be tackled as she leaped into his arms. The only thing she really noticed was that he looked much younger. Merry just looked taller and maybe a few years younger. "I've missed you both so much!" Her friend finally set her down.

"Come on," Merry took her right hand while Boromir took the left "we'll be late to meet the others."

Private Beach:

Tricia couldn't believe her eyes at first, his blonde hair waved in the wind as he grabbed her hand and led her down to the sand. She should have pulled back or protested, but his gentle touch and gracefulness put her at ease in a time of great panic. Finally he stopped, but didn't turn to her, they stood there for a moment, hand in hand.

"Who are you?" Her mouth had finally remembered how to form words. The stranger turned and smiled at her lovingly. At first she couldn't quite make out his face, it looked like him, but younger…he frowned.

"Tricia, love, don't you recognize me?" He reached down and cupped her face in his hands. He tried to smile but was becoming panicked, earth had brought him so many new emotions.

"I can't believe it." Her voice was barely audible. "Legolas!" They hugged tightly and he swung her around.

"I missed you so much! My heart broke when you left, but then…"

"Then what?" Tricia tried to get him to talk but he just smiled.

"It will all be explained later. Come, we're going to be late."

Ferris wheel:

The carnie (er…yeah, sorry if it offends anyone) pointed to the waiting car with a wink. Rachel shrugged it off and climbed into the dark booth, smiling at the newer, more private type of ride. At first she didn't notice him sitting in the corner, but when the ride began to move she jumped a little and backed away from the shadow.

"Are you afraid?" A cocky voice said with what she could tell was a smirk. Rachel braced herself and faced him boldly.

"Nope." He laughed.

"Oh, Rachel, you haven't changed a bit. I've missed you."

"P-Pippin?" She couldn't believe that she was actually saying his name, or that she believed that it was him.

"Rachel." He moved forward and took her into his arms. "I love you."

"Whoa! What the hell happened to you to make you so…SERIOUS?" The girl almost pushed her love away from her in shock. How could this possibly be him?

"Serious?" He grinned evilly "You call this serious?" The boy lunged forward and tackled Rachel into the seat and began tickling her. They played lovingly until Rachel begged for a break.

"Pip. How?" A laugh escaped her lips as she ran her hand through his hair.

"We're going to explain it to all of you. In fact, I hope this ride ends soon or we're going t be late."

"Not me, I hope it never ends." Rachel smiled and kissed Pippin loving. "But I'll go wherever you want me to."

When the ride ended the two walked hand in hand towards the main beach to meet the others.

A/N: They're back! But did anyone else come along?


	4. A New Beginning

Chapter Four: A new beginning

Disc: I do not own any of the LOTR characters.

A/N: I've been updating a lot, but that's because I'm abusing my English paper for this and Phantom…all will suffer for Phantom, even though that story and my HP one aren't doing so well as this. Oh well. The Phantom one was a one shot anywho.

The girls ran towards each other and started talking at once while the boys stood nearby watching them lovingly.

"Sorry we're late, there was a line." A gruff looking man in his thirties said as he set a large pizza down on the picnic table. He was accompanied by a young man who reminded the girls of Elijah Wood….FRODO! The two men were tackled as the girls giggled madly

"Girls! Please! It's nice to see you too but we haven't eaten much today and I'm starving!" Frodo gently pushed his friends off and walked towards the pizza.

"But…"Tricia found herself at a loss for words.

"HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?" Her breathing was heavy as she stood wild eyed facing her friends.

"Holly, settle down and have some pizza." Merry said with a mouthful of pizza. "We're going to explain everything after we eat."

"She's not a very patient person, you should know that well enough." Rachel smiled as her friend threw her a teasing glare. "See." They all laughed.

"So what kind is it?" Holly finally sat down.

Frodo grinned "Mushroom, of course."

After dinner:

"Alright, now that we're all fat with Pizza, mind telling us what in the world you guys are doing here?" Rachel leaned against Pippin and sighed contently.

"Well, you all remember Celebhiril, right?" The girls nodded. "Well almost a year after you left, which apparently is only a few months or something in Earth time, she came to us and said that if we wished it, she could arrange for us to come here and live with you."

"Why weren't we given the choice to stay back on Middle Earth with you?" Rachel sipped her pop with a frown.

"Because that's not how the story is supposed to go." The group turned as their witch friend joined them.

"Could you please not refer to our lives as stories? It kinda freaks me out." Holly shifted in her seat.

"Sorry. But I gave them this choice, and they all greed. Except for Sam and Aragorn, but they both have families now and knew their place." She smiled sadly. "Those who are here agreed and I brought them here. But before they could see you they had to adjust to life on earth and I had to change them a little so that they could live normal lives."

"Yeah, and this place has done wonders for our grammer and such. Not easy to learn a whole new language in a few months, but luckily with Cel's magic we caught on pretty quick." Boromir smiled wickedly. "And I must say I love being young on Earth. The women here are…" A girl walked past wearing a bikini top and short shorts. "Interesting." The group laughed.

"Well, how old are all of you then?" Tricia had finally found her voice again.

"We ex-hobbits are all about twenty." Frodo chimed.

"Twenty two, or three." Boromir shrugged.

"About thirty-two." Gimli said. "But we must tell you that we changed our names as well…to fit in."

"But there are plenty of people on Earth who have strange names." Rachel pointed out. "Holly is named after a plant."

"What is it with you picking on me today?"

"It's fun."

"Oh. Well, what are your new names?"

"We were thinking of taking the names of the actors who potrayed us in those, movies. But Cel here advised against it." Merry shrugged "I'm now James, or Jamie."

"I actually got to keep mine. But I just go by Pip."

"Erik." Boromir smiled at the look Merry/James gave him. They both knew about Holly's little obsession with a certain musical.

"Alex." Frodo shrugged, "I just picked one at random."

"Mike." Gimli said.

They all turned to Legolas who was cuddling Tricia close to him. "Oh, me, I went with Ian." He smiled at Tricia who frowned. "I can change it of course."

"We might just do that." Tricia smiled.

A/N: Okay, I suck at choosing names, so if you guys don't like these I'm open to suggestions. And as a whole, do you think that there should be a thing going on between Hol/Bor or should they just stay friends? I mean giving your life for someone is pretty deep. Though she would have done the same for Merry. I dunno, just tell me what you all want, I'm pretty easy.


	5. Surprise

Chapter Five: Some much needed alone time…right?

Disc: I do not own the LOTR characters even though they have new names.

A/N: I still think it was appropriate to change their names for Earth…right? I dunno, but I did. Here are the results and final names and stuff…remember these things. BTW, I shoulda seen the suggestion of Charlie for Merry. Glad to see I'm not the only Lost fan out there.

Girls: now 19 years old (btw, finally figured out that they'd be 18 in earth time)

Boromir: Erik, age 22

Pippin: Pip, age 20

Gimli: Mike, age 32

Merry: James or Jamie, age 20

Legolas: Ian, age 21

Frodo: Alex, age 20

As for the whole Hol/ Bor or Hol/Mer thing it came out a tie….how odd is that? Still makes my decision hard. I mean Holly and Boromir have a lot in common and she did die for him. But then again Merry has the right personality to help her relax and enjoy life. Grrrr….threesome anyone? Joking! At the moment Holly and Merry will stick together since that's how it's supposed to be for this story. But I might add an extra one shot of alternate couples which I've mentioned before. What do you think? Okay, onto the story!

"You kids have fun! Don't stay out too late!" Mike smiled as he watched his friends head off in different directions. Unfortunately Erik was left sitting at the table watching James and Holly walk down the beach hand in hand. "Don't be so jealous. Be happy for her, if you really care about her. Besides, there are plenty of other women here on Earth, I'm sure you'll find one you like."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm just still being a big brother to her and worrying about her." Boromir sighed "I'll find someone, probably."

"That's the spirit." Mike turned and began walking towards the boardwalk, probably heading back to the hotel.

"But no one like her…" Erik mumbled under his breath.

Further down the beach:

"Come on! I want to show something to you!"

"James! There's nothing down this far. Look, the only thing around here is a few private houses and one little boat on the wa-…"

There was an explosion and Holly jumped a little until she saw the fireworks go off in the sky. James pulled her close and kissed her lovingly. "You know it broke my heart when I heard you had a boyfriend here." His eyes shone mischievously and Holly blushed a little. He had changed since they were last together, he was taller, much taller, and his hair had been styled in a different way.

"James…I only did it to save our reputations and get some peace and quiet."

"I know, but I felt as if you'd forgotten me." He held her tighter. "I love you…"

"What?"

"My ring…"

"Is right here." She took the chain from around her neck and showed him the ring. "It's always with me." Holly frowned as James took the ring off the chain.

"I lost you twice…which is more than I ever intended. I don't want to ever loose you again." He put the ring on her engagement finger, "Ever…will you marry me?"

At first Holly was too shocked to respond, but slowly she smiled and kissed her love happily. "Yes!" she exclaimed, crying tears of joy. "I'll marry you." The two embraced and laughed happily at the fact that they were actually together again. "But you know we can't really announce it until you meet my parents." James frowned.

"Do you think they'll like me?"

"Yes…I'll make sure of it."

With Tricia and Ian:

"So…how long do you think it'll be before the wedding? James has been dying to ask for a while…"

Tricia gasped and gawked as she turned to Ian. "Do you mean…Is he…tonight?" Ian nodded. "Aw! I can't believe it! I hope he's willing to wait at least a year. Holly wants to go to college and all that before settling down."

"He might be content to just be engaged."

"I hope so. Now…let's forget about Holly and James for a minute." Tricia wrapped her arms around Ian and hugged him close.

"You have changed…"

"And so have you."

"Well, Earth has brought, a lot of new emotions."

Tricia thought for a moment… "Are you sure, that you made the right choice?" Her arms unwrapped from around him and she turned away, afraid to hear him say no.

"Tricia, I am lost here on earth," He pulled her to him and kissed her. "But I was dying without you." He hadn't lost his charm, Tricia melted in his embrace and put her head against his chest.

"I missed you, so much. We were beginning to forget…to believe our own lies." She held him closer to make sure he was real.

"It wasn't a dream…and I'm here now. I'll always be here." He smiled lovingly and ran his hand through Tricia's hair. "Come on, let's go to the beach and congratulate James and Holly, we can build a fire too and have a little celebration."

"Okay, sounds like fun." She giggled as she took Ian's hand and pulled him towards the beach, eager to see how surprised her friend was after being proposed to.

Rachel and Pip:

The two crouched down behind a rock and watched James drag Holly dpwn the beach. "

"The fireworks will be going off any second." Pip smiled at Rachel as he pointed to the little boat on the water. It shot out a firework and they laughed as Holly jumped. James held her close and whispered in her ears. "He's gonna do it!"

"Holly must be going out of her mind." Rachel smiled broadly when she heard her friend let out a cry of delight. "Engaged…that's scary."

"Is it?" Pip turned and frowned at Rachel, looking a little hurt.

"So young, yes. I'm surprised Holly said yes, she might be thinking of a very long engagement." She pulled pip into an embrace as he frowned even more. "Here on earth, the three of us have a lot expected of us. We're supposed to g to college now, and get jobs. This will take at least another four or five years…then when we've settled down in life we can get married and start families. But he might get lucky, once Holly gets into college she might decide to marry him. I'm not sure."

"What do you want?" He looked at the ground and felt his spirits fall…what if she changed her mind within that time. What if she didn't love him after she went to college?"

"Pip, I'm going to stay with you, but I do want to go to college…we'll talk it over Celebhiril tomorrow, alright?" Pip nodded and smiled. "Now, let's go congratulate the two lovebirds. The girl took off and ran towards her friend giving a shout to draw Holly's attention.

"Rae!" Holly laughed and ran to her friend. "I'm engaged!"

"You're crazy…getting tied down so quickly." Rachel thought it would be fun to tease James for a minute before giving her approval and congratulations.

"I know, but I couldn't have picked a better guy to be tied to." Holly smiled lovingly when James took her hand and smiled proudly.

"I'm not sure…there's plenty of fish in the sea…" Holly gave her a warning glare and Rachel laughed. "But if you're sure, I approve." She hugged Merry who looked at her in surprise. "You take care of her, and know that if you ever hurt her…"

"We'll kill you." Tricia smiled as she and Ian joined the group. She walked over and hugged both James and Holly. "Congratulations."

"Where's Erik, Alex, and Mike?" She looked around and frowned when she saw that her other friends were no where to be seen.

"We'll tell them later." James took her hand, a little afraid at how Erik would take the news. "Let's just enjoy the night right now."

"I'll build a fire!" Pip ran off to find some wood….

"I'll go tell him that we need to find a beach patrol man first." Rae ran after Pip while the others stood laughing.

"We'll need a fire ring, let's get to work!" Holly picked up a rock and threw it over to a nice area where they could sit around the fire. She still couldn't believe it…it had to be a dream, but if it was, she was going to make the most of it.

A/N: MERRY X-MAS and Happy Holidays! I thought that it'd be nice to put one up for today even though my readers might not all celebrate Christmas. And I got another vote….Hol/Bor…kinda weird that I had Holly and Merry/James get engaged then, thought that'd be a nice treat too. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy holidays!


End file.
